Cul-De-Sac

[Kazem]

Zaki felt the tingle before he saw the light. Doing a quick scan after knocking away a leaping shadow, he confirmed it was friendly, the magic pouring from Reforge. Covering his eyes as the bright magic sent all of the heartless into the sky, glittering only as hearts now, and then finally dimmed down. I have to admit, that's impressive. But I wish you could've done that before...before... Zakinen was tired of the thoughts that swimmed inside his mind, so he focused on the physical world, now noticing the new arrival of Asuka. Was she always there? Here? Whatever, I'm just glad another person is safe at least. And no more heartless. That's another plus. This is a pretty good day, seeing as we could've all been killed by first fflying through that door, then by the giant sphere of...dark. And again by the giant heartless. And-That's enough, no need to get morbid now, right?

Still keeping a hold of his keyblade, Zakinen stretched out his legs and waited for whatever was going to happen next to happen. "What does if take to be as strong as this guy?" I don't know, and don't really want to know. Giving a small nod to Reforge after he congradulated the group and stared as the key floated and vanished near Capell. "Heyy it looks like you got one too!!! Maybe Seven will get one from the door he went through..." He got a key too? And Seven might get one? Wait, Seven is by himself? And possibly against a swarm of heartless like us until recently? That's fantastic. Well, I guess I'll leave it to Ref for what to do because I'm clueless about what's going on. Now, there was something we were fighting the heartless for, right? "Umm...what were we fighting for again? Other than our lives, of course. I guess I got so caught up in the moment I kinda forgot. Eh-heh, sorry." He scratched his head out of embarresment and looked to the ground as he tried to remember, oblivious to the answer he could've saw if he wasn't busy thinking to himself.

[Oblivion Fenrir]

Renn was suddenly overcame with light and He had to cover his eyes, but he got disoriented pretty well. He fell on his butt as a result and thought the Heartless had him, He prepared for the ripping pain of a shadow`s claw but wasn`t hit... He rose and opened his eyes. All the heartless were gone. " I mean seriously what is with these random bursts of light!" He desummoned sorrow and thought...They may be annoy but atleast the heartless are gone.

[KHProdigy1]

Whereas Seven wasn't one to beat around the bush, his trek down the underpass reminded him of a movie. Yet in pursuit, the number of heartless had actually began to grow. He started to see what he thought at first to be flying wyvern, but they were much smaller and a the very least three times as agile. Zipping down the path of the tunnel behind Seven in imminent pursuit, his harvery rattled against the asphalt.

"Gar would call me crazy for this but, aww yeah!" svether seemed to say as he was exiting the underpass' long tunnel. Upon the cul's most obscure part, a giant bridge. He felt like he came here before, the golden flicker of a key seemed to be at the very end. "whoa! shiny key thing! I WANT IT!!!" he shouted, turning twisting the accelerator even harder. As if there were a turbulent jet-stream that followed him, the heartless were wise to what he was creating.

They perched low, and quickly approached him, and less than about seventy meters from the object. 'Oh no you don't!'. The twelve year old leaned forward as they steadily approached. 'Crapcrapcrap! They're aren't slowing down, maybe if I...' A twitch, as he thought to himself the distance between them and the key of light. As they zipped closing it at any given moment, his desperation manuever would have to do. Quickly scoping the distance and his initial manuever, as they drew closer to the target, Seven turned the bike, and launched himself forward with a leap of faith. A momentary hover, was followed by a quick lateral to push himself into a short glide as he watched the bike heartless crash into abandoned vehicle.

"This outta show you bird brain!" he shouted tenaciously, as he floated facing them strumming Harvey, to smack the heartless with a disorienting wave of sound. It emitted the same noise as an electric guitar, playing in sync to the young boy's heart essence. Once the waves impacted, the quickly hit the ground and turned around pushing another Lateral to quickly claim the key. "Yes! What do I win!" he smiled, a door emerging open in front of him as he quickly flew through it.

Out he popped, on both feet, he pulled up some dust against the surface as he had a rough land slide, bumping into a momentary motionless Reforge, his arms wrapped around him as they fell over. "Yay! Reffy!!! Uhm, did we win?"

post as mithos and erebos next Suped.

[Garforge Edit goes here]

[Lumine]

"Thank you. Comrade."

A threading of blue flames sparked from his grip, climbed the air, took shape and limits, and formed itself into his own Keyblade. The blue hue danced in Akiko's eyes, and in her extended hand just as FLLFFL turned the grip and let it rest in hers. The notion was unexpected, but filled with interpretations. Akiko found herself viewing him differently, interest piqued, but with the same encouraging attentiveness she received his gesture with acknowledgment.

"Welcome back." A line of uplifting resilience flourished on her lips as she withdrew her hand, and placed it on her hip.

"Looks to be only six of us. Its FLLFFL, but call me 'Alfa'." He contented, burning his name in air with his peculiar blue fire.

"Well, Alfa, the name's Akiko. Aki for short." She palmed her hand to her own Keyblade's end, contracting it with a push from her other hand into a single card. Mazing Heart's Keycard form, it was the same as any card, only more lethal and green. But was she imagining it, or did the glimmer of summoning shine brighter than before? It felt stronger, softer and clearer; A tad different with that shade of green enveloping its inns. Perhaps, it was changing in response to a shift in her heart...

"And my buddy here is Kyok- ooomfff"

"Akiko!"

Akiko stumbled slightly forward caught in Kyoko's sudden hug and usual excitement. She rolled her eyes, sighed, but couldn't for her life stop the smile of delight spreading on her face. Although Kyoko was unstoppable when she had something on her mind, she was one lively and friendly fellow to have around, and one Akiko fancied the company of a lot. Despite the troublesome results of her endeavors, Akiko treasured her friendship with the girl. It was hard not to like her.

"eheheee~ Hiya Kyoko!" Getting released from Kyoko's hug, Akiko caught her breath and turned towards her friend.

"I'm glad to see that you're alright, you're not hurt are you?" Kyoko exclaimed, almost frantically, looking Akiko over.

"Ah yeah, I'm totally O-kay, no need to worry. Just chill down." Akiko announced, trying to hold her friend in place and calm down Kyoko. She looked beat out, as if she was out of hell. It made Akiko feel guilty that she was standing there without even as much as a scratch.

"Ah, You're fine, I dunno what I was even worried about. You're a lot stronger than me anyway." She giggled, contrasting the intense and gloomy mood they were all thrust in.

"And you're being ridiculously humble, Kyoko. You know you have a lot more in you than what you claim, my friend. Here," She stated in matter of fact tone and lightly poked her friend's forehead, before she slid out another card from the one she was holding in her hand. It was as though, the two cards were once merged in one, but it was nothing new to how Akiko transitioned her Keycards. "I'm not much of a healer, but this should do."

She pressed her hand inside the newly summoned Keycard and it broke apart, formed itself in a glitter of light and loaded a small bottle of X-Potion saved previously inside. The minty liquid danced inside the translucent, small bottle as Aki handed it to Kyoko. Here goes a whole month's allowance...

"Well ladies, Mithos, Erebos, we'll be touring the school for a little while longer." FLLFFL declared, taking lead. And soon all six of them, were proceeding down the school hallways, more relaxed and definitely more wary.

Their feet took them eventually to a certain hall. Though the school in Akiko's eyes didn't seem changed much, the hall held a slightly different air, more radiant, more alerting, as if a force of different reign interfered here. And it appears, she wasn't the only one getting this vibe. Alfa, took the liberty to reveal what magic concealed to them though, before she could. And true to the words spoken, the trial the enigma pointed at before was at doors, literally. Three different doors stood around them, each holding a test of its own, a puzzle to solve, and a goal to reach.

More tests, huh? I wonder what's the idea behind all of this? ... What do they seek to prove to us?

Akiko wondered, slightly worried for the well being of her not present comrades. And of Garforge. She hoped he was well and in a state far better than theirs. Not in the hands of the enigmas who plummeted them in this mess, not in harm. She quickly shook the thought off, and focused back on reality. Spirits up, she needs to carry on, find the cross road.

"What do you guys think? Should we take the doors by ourselves? In pairs, or in groups of three?" FLLFFL spoke, breaking her line of thought, thankfully.

"Well, " Aki folded her arms, thoughtfully, assessing the situation and the members she was with. At this point, team work was key, and also a balance of skills should be regarded, they know nothing of what awaits behind each door, so being prepared is important. Going alone even if highly skilled won't do since that would leave the other party vulnerable to perhaps a stronger opponent. In three, a door will be left out, and they don't have much time to waste, but in two, it would be reasonably balanced, safer in traversing and covers more ground than one or three would. It didn't take her a second to know the suitable option.

"I say, we go in pairs. That way we could cover more ground and wrap this faster..." she decided with a confident nod, heading to the door on her right.

[tavishmithos]

If anything had been random it was the nature of Alpha's withdrawal. Mithos watched him go from hero to failed leader and back all within the time span of three minutes. He didn't like what he saw but respected the idea that as an individual, Alpha wasn't about to back down; even if that meant facing off with a creature that didn't have a head.

There wasn't much more to think about after that. The man had said some mysterious things but for that to seriously affect Mithos, he'd have to have talked about Reforge. In the end he cared about Gar because he was a faction leader but didn't have time to get heavily mixed up in all his ordeals. He'd just play it safe and try to make ends meet.

'Well. I like the idea for one. If we go in pairs of two we can hopefully cover a lot more ground and get on with whatever it is we have to do.' As normal, Mithos' thought speech rang inside the groups heads. Not all of them were used to it, but he had an idea already. 'So, Anise?? I think its a fabulous idea that we pair up. I speak directly into your mind and without any ability needed you can speak back to me in the same fashion with no problem.'

A strange smile that came from Mithos' eyes warmed up the rather sodden features that had been glancing his face previously and he gracefully reached out one of his many fingered hands to clasp Anise's. 'Shall we??'

~~~~~

Apparently, the short fuse that Erebos sometimes ran on had been shorted out, because he didn't have much of a reaction to the entire event, more than likely due to a mixture of both shock and serious annoyance at how awkward things continued to become.

"Right about now I don't give a damn what we do. I've been concerned since we turned up, but this has just got to stop. I need to find Reforge and I need to do it now. He has trusted me to be his second in command and here I cam looking stuck getting chased by these disgusting creatures...and to top it all off some FREAK that doesn't even have a head. Hellll No!!!" he had to do something, anything that made it worth being in this place that had been caused by the madness of their desires.

Erebos walked right past the others and tossed them a dirty look but with a smile inside a scowl. "Sorry bitches but I gotta go. If there is anyway I'm really able to help its just like this," he opened the first door he saw and walked right through it, not bothering to take anybody with him or ask for help...

"Huh??" On the other side the room had staircases and panels colored red, blue, and yellow. "The hell is this??"

[Keyblader!]

"That was... Unorthodox." Capell said, getting rather anxious from seeing one surprise after the other. He had no idea what that light from Ref was, and he wasn't about to ask either, as if he'd know himself. The Heartless had been taken care of and now Capell had a strange key bestowed upon him. He examined the thing in his right hand. It looked like a normal key, however feeling it's unnaturally warm surface he could tell it wasn't ordinary. Pocketing the key he noticed an odd anomaly in the air in front of him. It seemed as if the space was being distorted in straight lines that formed a flickering visage of a door. The lines glowed with a soft light, connecting and filling in the 'surface area' of the door until it entered the physical plane. It was about eight feet tall, glossed white with a decorated edge. Capell's right palm tapped his forehead. "Honestly... There had better be some sort of explanation for all this..." He muttered, walking over to the door. There was a knob and a keyhole, it didn't take a detective to see where this was going. He saw no point in even trying to open the door as is, instead he took the key from his pocket.

"Well, nothing ventured nothing... well... actually I can't see us gaining much from this..." He sighed and stuck the key inside the keyhole. Taking a deep breath he didn't turn it right away. Trying to open a mysterious door was what got them into this mess. "Ugh..." Using his free hand Capell ruffled his hair in nervousness. "Aww screw it, there's no level lower than hell right?" He quickly turned the key, which vanished as a 'clicking' sound was heard from the door. It slowly opened on it's own, Capell peered inside. "Not what I was expecting... I guess it's better than more monsters though." He said in weak optimism. What he saw was an endless void of blackness, which would be rather depressing if not for the glimmer of light that could be seen in the distance. "Hmm" He hummed, stroking his chin in curiosity. He turned back to the others. "So, think it's worth checking out?"

[umazak]

Had it not been for the words and the appearance of the man, Xarce could swear that Coraleye would say something about how the man was nice for leaving them such a gift. Regardless, Xarce grips the hilt of his own blade and quickly takes in his surroundings. It's true that the man left Xarce in a bit of a pickle, but that was nothing to really worry about. A few hits and Xarce could be a real force. That is if he doesn't pass out from the pain first. He finally sucks in a large breath of air and charges with a bit of a hobble towards the nearest enemy. That one tries a simple swipe at the slower young man but misses due to Xarce rolling to the side. At that point he swings upwards to send the Unverse into the air only to follow by flipping once and unleashing a total of three horizontal slashes only to end it with a single slam of the blade on the creature's head. He doesn't thinks that the attack will kill the enemy, but he counts on it to cause the enemy to flinch just enough for Xarce to cast Cure.

Due to the fact that he cast it, Xarce feels the effects of the spell get rid of his pain. He's not entirely sure if he was healed, but that worry takes third place. Instead, his primary worry is that the spell might not reach Coraleye and Ulmara. He realizes that if anyone needs the spell, it's those two. The only bad thing is that the pentagrams block his view of the two so he's not sure if they are covered with the spell or not. He quicklly puts that worry on the back burner for the moment and braces himself for the impact of landing. And just as expected, the landing sends pain shooting through his leg. At that point he turns to face the Unverse that he was attacking just seconds ago only to notice it vanish.

"One down."

He looks to the rest of the creatures and attempts to come up with a plan only to be interrupted by something slamming into his side. Through the pain he manages to look at the creature getting smaller until he realizes that he was sent flying into the air. He smiles as he simply shifts his weight and recovers from the attack. "Naughty, naughty." "I've been around others too much. I'd never say something like that."

[Zangetsu.]

From everyone's standpoint it was clear that they would travel in groups of two. And even then there would be very minute room for error. Yet the choice of who would be paired together was still up in the air. Although with Anise and Mithos it was already set. He was the only one in the Cul-De-Sac that had the ability to 'speak' with her even if it was telepathically.

'So, Anise?? I think its a fabulous idea that we pair up. I speak directly into your mind and without any ability needed you can speak back to me in the same fashion with no problem.'

An easy yes. Anise shook her head. She still was not all that comfortable with the fact that he invaded her thoughts but it was for the better of the group. Anise was used to Mithos's eccentric appearance. Remembering the first time she made contact with him, it was an extremely awkward moment for her. Chills raced up her arms and the breath taken from her lungs. Yet as the months raged on, Anise began to obtain a passive mood towards Mithos and the same towards the rest of Zeal's Call.

She let out a single sigh and turned toward the group. Eye contact with everyone made it evident that they were dead set on where they were going. Much like a sting or a static electric feeling, a surge went through her arm. It was not painful nor soothing. But more of an annoying surprise. A sliver of lightning crawled around her left hand and shatters in a small 'pop' once Mithos grabbed her hand.

'Shall we?'

'...Yeah'

~~~~

"So, think it's worth checking out?"

Needless to say, Daemus's face conveyed that of fear. The darkness behind the door just seemed so...empty. Daemus stood on his feet and waved to gather the group in front of the door. Still, there were two other keys. Just where did they lead to? "Eh...that's pretty dark, man." D's voice wobbled to and fro as he stated that sentence. But seeing where they were right now, they really did not have the time to be afraid. And by the looks of things, no one else was. As a matter of fact, maybe he should have fun with the situation. Seven sure was.

"Well maybe we should see where these other keys go. I mean, maybe there's other doors. y'know?" Daemus placed a hand on the back of his neck trying to rid himself of the nervous and paranoid feeling. Zaki then broke the silence in the air:

"Umm...what were we fighting for again? Other than our lives, of course. I guess I got so caught up in the moment I kinda forgot. Eh-heh, sorry."

"Hah its cool bro. I'm just as in the dark as you are. I kinda get the feeling that we're all pretty confused to some point. Sooooooo...just go with the flow until we find out how to get this place up and running again."

Daemus lightly punched Zaki on the shoulder due to the fact that he could see the slight blushing from embarrassment on his face. As soon as everyone was gathered at a single point, they obviously had a way to progress. But they had to be smart about it. Cautious rather.

"Ref, you gotta key right? And Seven? How about we put those to use, yeah? Getting kinda bored of this place."

[Kazem]

"Hah its cool bro. I'm just as in the dark as you are. I kinda get the feeling that we're all pretty confused to some point. Sooooooo...just go with the flow until we find out how to get this place up and running again."

"Sounds good enough I guess, can't really ask for much else when everything's...different now." Zakinen eyed the door that opened into the expansive void of black, and decided quickly that he wished another option would appear. Taking the punch on the shoulder, Zaki smiled back at Daemus and relaxed. Well, physically at least, his mind was still tense, suspecting a sudden surprise any moment. When he heard Daemus mention his boredom of their current setting, Zaki did another circle and realized the answer to his question: The streets were occupied with only a handful of survivors, whose mental state could be insane, terrified, or non-existent even, having drawn down deep into their minds to flee from the sickening reality: hearts were no longer in the possession of most of their friends and family. They were gone. Forever.

Zakinen tried to push the thought away like the others, but it was just to much. Tears silently rolled down his face as he observed what was possibly the best case scenario if they got through this thing. They all used to smile. Laugh. Joke around and have fun. Now it's just...this. It's not funny. Not even a tiny bit happy. This is all despair. He kept his face straight and tried to deal with the almost hopeless situation, his hand squeezing a death-grip on the handle of his keyblade and his posture tall and tense. "Well, even if they have keys, they need the doors too, right? And who knows when another is going to show up? I think this might be our only choice for now if we want to move on, but it's up to what we all decide I guess. I think we should take what this door has to offer, seeing as we only have two more keys that may or may not have doors to unlock." I just hope that what we find is better than this. And if it's somehow worse, then I guess I'll just deal with whatever could be worse than the death of maybe everyone but our little group.

[KHProdigy1]

Garforge seemed to seemed to freeze for a moment as he was still stricken with disbelief. The shroud of nothing, jumped from the stage and soared towards him. Garforge, on impulse, summoned his hitsun to his right hand and gripped the end with his left. Parry. The impact of the stranger's hand, push him into the elongated, narrow passage. Get it together, Garforge thought, forming a block behind him. Getting a quick foothold, he broke his backwards momentum, and lunged forward soaring over the nothing's shroud's head.

"I can't let you have my body, not today." he spoke as he lunged towards the shroud.

There is no escape, only fate, its already been decided.

It's hand, barely visible, holding Garforge's keyblade at the very tip of his finger. Tendrils seemed to amass as it began to overlap around Garforge himself. Whats going on? I'm... his consciousness began to fade. As the boy's keyblade fell into the abyss below, it relinquished, upon his chest the nobody crest then surfaced. His once pale white hair, tinted a shade of silver and gray. He held his hands up, his heterochromia was gone, both eyes were the same.

"I'm wavering, fight it...but I must have your cooperation.."

Garforge clutched his fist, and sat upon the throne, of three. Its noblest nobody, its king, of nothingness. His relaxed upon the arm rest and he folded his leg over the other lurching his face on his fist. As if the two personalities eloped, Garforge himself didn't know what to say, what to feel, but it was nothing he could stop...alone.


````````````

FLLFFL looked around. "Pairs it is then." as he lifted his keyblade and pointed to towards the door Akkiko eyed. A loathsome Erebos brushed through the ranks, he didn't know if it was in better judgement. Alfa's eyes were keen, he changed his stance. "I'm sure he means well, but I can't let him go on by himself."

Alfa turned, and the door was...gone? What. He blank once, "Akkiko and Kyoko, you two should pair. I'll go look for Erebos." his back was to them, but he gave them the same calmness and confidence he shared with everyone moments ago. As FLLFFL head through the next door close to where Erebos had rummaged through, he came to an empty room. "...? What is this?" he exclaimed looking around.

The room was gray, there was a window, on the other side he could see Erebos overlooking stairs. Alfa ran to the window, but as he took his first step, a gust-like breeze knocked him down and began to push him against the wind, as his hands slid along the glass. 'Your kidding?' He jammed his FL into the surface, and noticed there were several industrial fans blowing him in one direction. Getting up, he started running in that direction, running sliding his keyblade across the surface, going against the wind. "What exactly is the point of this?" from his question he noticed splotches swim beneath the ground.

"Of course nobodies are here too. Joy." Alfa, unable to stop running due to his predicament. He slowly turned around, seeing a wall several meters away in the distance converging on him. Anyone would freak out seeing that, but the wall too was racing to clasp against the fans, so it was somewhat slow. As Alfa could see this, he began to think. Defeat the nobodies, get to the other side before the wall does, then what, he thought.

Dealing with his first hostile attack from the actual nobodies, he smacked them to hell with all the momentum he was storing from his running the marathon. Spawning behind him, Dusk were swimming in the current, about four of them. "I guess this is the second wave then? Bullet." Alfa gripped his keyblade, and jumped tucking back with the wind, bouncing off his foes using his keyblade as a jet, to quickly maneuver between the dusk, it took a few well placed combination attacks to dispose of them.

As the wall grew closer, there was no gained objective, Alfa only grew aggravated and was beginning to wear on his legs.

[tavishmithos]

"Yay! Reffy!!! Uhm, did we win?"

Did they win?? What a question coming from the smallest of the group. Seven looked overjoyed, so Reforge was guessing that he'd had some fun going through whatever had been on the other side of the door.

In Ref's opinion Capell taking the initiative was a good thing as he didn't even understand what the keys were for but obviously Capell had a better idea than he. Upon the door materializing and Capell inserting his key inside the lock; the door opened wide to an expanse of darkness that was confounded by nothing. All Reforge could see was darkness a first and only the slightest bit of light was revealed at what seemed far into the distance.

"Geez, if this isn't odd I'm not sure just what is. I can say at least Capell's key wasn’t the only one that just got used because mine is gone. I suspect that Seven yours is gone as well??" Reforge didn’t hesitate, he stepped into the seemingly pitch black area and proceeded to walk further, beckoning the group to follow. Reforge was scared as he was before. There was something about being shallowed by the darkness that made him feel more uneasy than even when the hooded man had appeared. The darkness seemed to continue on and on but after awhile, Reforge felt a presence.

He was unable to describe it at first, but the voice made him recognize what the feeling was immediately. "The time of reckoning is near. More near than you can imagine."

"What??" The voice was different from the one he'd heard before with the others. It was more raspy, and had a tone of emptiness to it but it still was familiar...Reforge continued forward and turned to see that as the darkness seemed to fade away, there was still endless black on the sides of him. The group now was passing over a bridge that spanned just as endlessly into the distance as the darkness had. If you looked down at the bridge itself, it was almost completely see through.

Reforge smiled weakly at the thought of the bridge somehow collapsing and all of them falling into the abyss of the dark below. "Well?? Has fate transpired to unwind everything, or has fate simply stopped somewhere in between..." Yet another voice that sounded so close to something or somebody he knew. The further they all walked, Reforge's thoughts slipped further and further into what the aftermath of this would all be and if anything was this just the start of something even bigger??

~~First Person Narrative~~

I remember everything like it was just yesterday, whether the details are minute and small, or grandiose and in your face, there is never an instant that I can't recall but even being certain of this type of thing, for some reason I'm always eating and the constant consumption of food is typically seeded by me getting a wicked case of the 'itis' and passing out on my bed or in the HQ in the center of the park. Even so, I can;t help but think about this one time that I was stupid and didn't eat...

A few years back, bro and I ended up going out to dinner with mom and dad. At first I wasn't planning on going because Gar said he felt sick, which was awkward. Bro NEVER got sick, so I figured he was simply up to something and didn;t want mom and dad to find out. I sure wasn't about to tell on him, so it didn;t matter to me as much until we ordered. Gar said he wasn't hungry and because of that I decided not to eat as well.

It was a dumb decision on my part because after we left I could taste the chicken dumplings that dad had eaten and my stomach grumbled louder and louder. My hunger was so extreme that my thoughts were stuck on one thing. I was so hungry. So very hungry. There were so many people in the streets as Garforge and I walked home, bro being in the lead and giving me funny looks because of the ravenous look upon my face, yet he said nothing the entire time we walked. There was this cute girl, I remembered her from school, she had icecream and I wanted it, but then I passed out I guess.

I just remember opening my eyes laying on blocks Gar made for me. My hunger was gone, but the street was empty. Gar wouldn't explain to me what occurred.

~~End First Person Narrative~~

The bridge ended and Reforge walked out into the blinding light that they'd witnessed before, only to see that standing in the center of an all white area, that just as the darkness had; kept going and going, there was the hooded man.

"Sleep Dearest Reforge." The words alone caused Reforge to topple over onto the ground and lay there motionless and in that instant, both Capell and Seven's bodies lit up in a dull glow, drawing them closer to the hooded man. It was invisible but a barrier had been erected in place and that stopped the others from moving forward into the space where Capell, Seven and also Reforge's unconscious body lay.

"Key bearers I see and by the looks of it worthy ones too. Reforge here wont be helping you for the time being as he's obviously incapacitated. Its funny, you children are all so naive in even thinking about the world. I can guarantee until recently you never thought any of this was possible."

The hood moved a little but as before light just spilled out the sides. "Hell, I'm babbling, if you two want your precious Reforge back you'll have to go through me first...bro, I'm going to borrow this for a bit" A white hand then fell from the sleeve and from the hand spawned a gorgeous keyblade.

Outside the trap that had been set for capell and Seven; heartless began to swarm, literally bursting from the light and advancing upon the rest of the group. These heartless all had gaping holes in their chests shaped like hearts and they snarled as they went after the group in a frenzy.

[Oblivion Fenrir]

Renn peered into the door that Capell had opened. Pitch black except for a faint square of light off in the expanse of black.

Reforge soon traversed into said darkness and Renn had a twitch at the hair on the back of his neck, and it wasn't the darkness that made it feel that way but the light. Renn followed Reforge when he was halfway across the expanse. surprisingly an odd bridge appeared that led to the light. Renn shook off the feeling of impending doom and walked in. He walked up without impulse or thought.

He soon saw Reforge's figure step into the light. He still had that feeling then it just hyped into overdrive. Then he remembered one of Lightning's famous lessons.

Still your mind, Move on instinct.

He embraced that and followed right up behind Reforge. But he was already too late. Reforge was on the ground, same with Seven and Capell.

"Key bearers I see and by the looks of it worthy ones too. Reforge here wont be helping you for the time being as he's obviously incapacitated. Its funny, you children are all so naive in even thinking about the world. I can guarantee until recently you never thought any of this was possible."

Hmmm it must be a test.

"Hell, I'm babbling, if you two want your precious Reforge back you'll have to go through me first...bro, I'm going to borrow this for a bit"


A test of strength. Renn thought as he summoned stormspark to his side. His keyblade begining to crackle with lightning and Renn's expression hardened from surprise at Reforge's capture, to a calm, determined one with a slight scowl of rage.

The hooded man simply stood there.

Must be waiting for me to make the first move.

Renn called upon his speed to move in towards the man then pulled a simple diagonal strike.

[Zangetsu.]

"And here I was thinking that this was boring,"

One by one, each of the youths crossed the plain from a desolate world to a realm of darkness. The atmosphere seemed different in the sense that, a hostile nature somewhat held this realm to what it is: nothing. Daemus hesitantly placed a foot on the surface of a bridge. A precarious one at that. The thought of being lost in this place was not too far in the back of his mind either. The only ounce of reassurance that the group had was the faint light at the end of the bridge. The eccentric dimension seemed to get smaller and smaller with each step. The door closed behind the group and dispersed in a faint glow.

No where to go but forward. With Reforge leading the group, they had sure make it out alive. Yet Daemus still had his doubts about his younger peer. A sense of pent up frustration and disgust both made their way and settled inside of Daemus's heart. He rubbed his eyes as if something were in them. But with the stillness in this air, that was simply impossible.

"Just how far does this thing go anyway? I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining but you gotta admit, this place is pret-ty creepy," The statement was directed at anyone in the evident group and he wasn't expecting a solid answer to begin with

As they walked the light grew taller; wider. Almost as if this were their escape. 'Well, that was easier than I thought' Daemus thought to himself. "Aaaaaallll right guys! See that wasn't bad at --" Getting cut off was Daemus's specialty. As the group made their way through the light. It was as if they had not only had a false sense of achievement, but their fear seemed to gather itself as well. Seven, Capell and Reforge headed the group. Face-to-face with a hooded man. He stood there calmly as if even the grandest of storms could not break his focus.

"Sleep Dearest Reforge."

Three simple words. That's all it too to knock him out. Reforge collapsed to the ground. Idle. A grim look came over Daemus's face. A man that could take out Reforge just by talking? That's some kind of power. Daemus's feet were still as he broke a sweat just from the severe anxiety that took over his body. Not anywhere had he seen someone with that kind of power capacity. His mouth was open as if he had just seen a ghost. But even that guess was not far off either. Once the hooded figure summoned a keyblade, Daemus shook out of his trance. Even though a keyblade was common throughout the Cul-De-Sac, one as vibrant as that could only work though so much.

"Hey! Just what the hell do you think you're doing man?!," Daemus said summoning Arganax to his hand. "Svether, Capell get back I got this guy," With that said, Daemus forcefully pushed off of the ground. Only leaving sound in its wake. In a split second, Daemus's face seemed to come in contact with that of a large wall. A field. After rubbing his face, he placed a hand on the field. There was no way in or out Daemus concluded. "...Dirty move," Looking around the area, it seemed that only Seven, Capell and Reforge were trapped inside of the field. But the outside group's job was not to stand and watch.

A series of Heartless made their way toward the group. They almost seemed bloodthirsty. Yellow eyes and empty chests battling one another to devour hearts of the innocent. Daemus took his stance waiting for the wave to reach the group. 'Another wave? These guys just don't give up' He liked that despite the odds not exactly being in their favor. In fact, it never was. His heart seemed to waver and an indifferent sense of emotions packed on. 'Huh..if darkness could knock out Ref with a sentence...I wonder what it'd do for me.' Daemus shook the thought. But it seemed to come back up again almost as if making its presence known.

He remembered asking himself if he could ever be just as strong if not stronger than Reforge, but was darkness really the answer? It couldn't be. If he had remembered anything in school it was that light always prevailed over darkness. No matter how prevalent that darkness was. Not once did his sense of justice ever diminish. Sure he liked to play pranks every now and again, but why the second guessing now?

The floor had too much bearing on it. The Heartless were getting closer and closer. As the group fought off the wave, Daemus stood there. Keyblade in hand. Doing nothing but staring down at his feet. A single heartless had broke through the assault. Then another and more eventually joined the fray. They wore on him covering his entire body dragging entire being into a black hole. But he did not flinch in the least bit. Not a cry was heard, not even a breath of air could be seen. It was almost as if he had accepted his fate.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes. The wave of heartless was still there but the group still had time to go before the assault. 'A dream?' Daemus could not afford to lose his focus now. It was either life or death right now and more so than ever, he wanted to live. They all did. Daemus took one last look at the lifeless Reforge. "Hmph," A hidden grin shown on his face as he stared at him. Eyes traveled up to Seven and Capell. "We got things on this end. Do work!"

Daemus charged toward the wave of Heartless, not caring if the rest of the group caught up or not. The afterimages in his wake almost looked as if they were trying to catch up to Daemus. He took his keyblade and tossed it forward. A jumping slide ensued as he weaved through the countless Heartless trying to locate his key. Finally his foot hit that of the Keyblade's shaft and knowing Daemus's feature of taking things out with a bang, he kicked himself foreward, vaulting over the blade and withdrawing it all in one swift motion. Swinging the blade overhand, Daemus dispatched a single Heartless in front of him with a single blow.

"Ahahahahaha! Come and get it!"

[tavishmithos]

Mithos entered the door with Anise by his side and let go of her hand, looking around the room with all of his eyes and then doing it again in a second sweep. The room was barren and held nothing, not even a floor to walk on. The door they had entered was gone once steeping through, so looking behind with his stalk eyes also showed nothing. The small ledge that edged 10 or so feet across in front of them was the only space that could be walked on and it was a long way across to the other side of the room where the exit was.

'Well this is definitely an odd place and an even odder situation.' Mithos was thinking hard to figure out what they were going to do and how they could manage getting across the expanse of the room. The depth of the room was a least 30 feet, so falling all the way down into the pit wasn't an option. 'I guess I'll have to use one of my morphs. Which one though??'

He pondered for only a second longer before morphing back into the form he'd taken previously; the Irigi Panda. His body contorted and shifted until he was once again and large but slim Panda Bear and he looked at Anise and smiled. 'I like to be noble and make it so that ladies have to do as little work as possible. Don't be scared now.' If she was wondering what he met, it wouldn't take too long for her to figure it out because Mithos grabbed her around the waist and jumped all the way across the gap to the ledge on the other side of the room.

'I wish it was that easy though. It looks like our trial isn't over yet.' Randomly the entire room had become solid and from the floor that had filled in, monsters came forth. They were nobodies holding large swords with bulky bodies. 'Great. Looks like we have to take out all 6 of these things until we may pass Anise, you ready?? Lets do it...'

[Keyblader!]

Following behind Ref they entered a building. A oh so familiar light radiated from inside, momentarily blinding him. As his eyes adjusted he saw the same hooded man from before standing a ways from them. "This is starting to become a pain, just what is it that you want?" Capell asked, his forehead creasing in irritation. He suddenly didn't really care about that however, when the hooded figure simply uttered a few words and Ref fell to the floor. "R-Ref!" Capell shouted in worry, bending down to his level. He sighed in relief as he saw that he was still alive, though he seemed to be in a state of unconsciousness not at all natural like say, a nap.

"Key bearers I see and by the looks of it worthy ones too. Reforge here wont be helping you for the time being as he's obviously incapacitated. Its funny, you children are all so naive in even thinking about the world. I can guarantee until recently you never thought any of this was possible."

Capell got a bit ticked off at this thing's remark. Using his magic his hands glowed white, stretching them out towards Ref he created a bubble like shield around him. Taking a heated breath he stood to his feet and faced the hooded figure. "Naive? Is that what you want to call it? Of course we couldn't know what would happen. We were curious about that door, not even knowing what was on the other side. Seeing the results of it opening, it's clear that indulging our curiosity was a mistake... However I'm not going to dwell on that! Feeling sorry about this won't change a damn thing!" He was getting tired of this guy, vague motivations and attempts at emotional entrapment.

"Hell, I'm babbling, if you two want your precious Reforge back you'll have to go through me first...bro, I'm going to borrow this for a bit"

Capell was shocked to see him summon a keyblade, the type that it was, and the way he spoke... It reminded him of... "Forget it!" He shook off the thought and summoned his own keyblade which hovered by his side. If he wanted a fight then he sure as hell was going to get one. His left hand brightened with a pale blue light. Reaching out his hand towards the figure large ice spears at least three dozen in number rained down upon him as he swiped his left hand down. As the ice hit the ground it melted, raising his left hand the water swarmed onto the figure. His right hand then sparked with purple electricity. Waving his hand bolts of lightning formed a circle around the figure, striking downward with thunderous malice until they converged to the center of the lightning circle, where they formed a large lightning bolt that struck the swarm of water, creating an explosion of lightning infused water.